Subject: [Tweeters] Nisqually NWR and Ocean Shores beaches
Date: May 7 08:53:36 2007
From: Rebecca Laszlo - Rebecca.Laszlo at microsoft.com


Saturday Sara and I spent several afternoon hours in Nisqually NWR, and Sunday we took a beach walk on the open ocean at Ocean Shores plus a few peeks along Gray Harbor from Burrows Road. We are very much amateurs, yet we saw many fine species, including my first Am. Bittern (in the pond outside the visitor's center, just as mentioned in a recent Tweets posting) and our first Common Yellowthroat and Yellow Rumped Warbler. It was great fun.

NISQUALLY 5/5/07
Double crested cormorant (4)
American Bittern (2)
Canada Goose
Wood duck (6+ males)
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal (6+ males)
Northern Shoveler
Ring necked duck
Bufflehead (female)
Common merganser (4 females)
Bald eagle (caught a fish in the river channel)
American coot
Belted kingfisher
Crow
Tree Swallow (80% sure), Violet-green swallow, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow
Marsh wren (displaying nicely on the grasses)
American robin
European starling
Yellow rumped warbler
Common yellowthroat (displaying nicely on several bushes/grasses)
Savannah sparrow
Song sparrow
Golden-crowned sparrow
Red winged blackbird (nest in the pond right in front of visitor's center viewing platform! Also, 2 males chased a crow from their territory)
American goldfinch

OCEAN SHORES & BURROWS ROAD 5/6/07
Great blue heron
Canada goose
Mallard
Bufflehead
Bald eagle
Northern harrier
Semi-palmated plover (many many!)
Marbled godwit (19 observed at one stretch of beach)
Sanderling
Western sandpiper
Dunlin
Dowitcher (3 observed among godwits)
Caspian tern
Common raven
Crow
Barn swallow
Purple finch
American goldfinch

- Rebecca Laszlo, Seattle Washington